Thank you all! A huge 'thank-you' to all the individuals, trusts and foundations whose support makes our work possible. To those new trusts and foundations who have supported us - we will not let you down! We will provide high-quality services, report regularly and in detail about how we spent your money and make you proud to have supported us.

Eligibility criteria We target women who are most disadvantaged. Our services are open to women who fulfil four criteria: Live or work within the borough of Islington (although we will accept Irish women from Barnet) Are on benefits or low income of £8,000 or £11,000 (with dependents) Have not had prior counselling/psychotherapy Have not had the opportunity to study at degree level

You can visit the websites of associated agencies by clicking on the link(s) below:
Islington Women's Aid (IWA)
The Women's Resource Centre (WRC)

Information for donors
and referrers

Funding

The challenge for us, along with all voluntary organisations, is the sustainability of the funding we receive. Many of the grants are one-off, rather than multi-annual, which means that we are constantly having to identify new sources and re-apply for funding.

You can join us in our efforts:

1. Become a 'Friend' of the Maya Centre.

2. Make a donation.

3. Participate in our sponsored run, or sponsor someone running for us.

If you would like to make a donation or require further information, please click here to contact us by email, or contact us at the address below.

To donate on-line, using securegiving, please click on the following link.

Referral process

Any woman who meets our eligibility criteria can refer herself to the Centre. She will be put through to the counsellor on duty who will give her information about the service and place her name on a waiting list. Once she has reached the top of the waiting list she will be offered an assessment appointment. After that appointment, the counsellor will discuss with her whether or not our service is the most appropriate for her. She will be helped to find support elsewhere if not. If she is appropriate, and wishes to commit to counselling, she will be placed on the waiting list for the next available counselling space.

We try to minimise the waiting time for clients. Our target is six weeks for an initial assessment and six weeks for counselling. More often than not, the waiting time is much shorter than this.

We accept referrals from other agencies and professionals, but we ask all referrers to ask clients to call the Centre themselves and confirm that they wish to receive counselling.

The Maya Centre provides clients with one 50-minute counselling appointment each week. The length of the counselling contract will vary according to the women’s needs and can be up to a maximum of twelve months.

Groups are often appropriate provision for women as they can enable communication, sharing, support and understanding.